Meaning – Sri Ranganatha, who is fond of residing at Srirangam is already extolled by many Sanskrit and Tamil verses. Though He is praised by many verses, still He is not pleased it seems. He is ready to accept the dirt on Him in the form of my verses, which are filled with absurdity. Who will be able to stop an elephant which enjoys throwing sand on itself immediately after a good bath?

Meaning – Even though I do not posses any qualification to extol Sri Ranganatha, how dare I proceeded? I am proud of my lineage; my ancestors were always at the lotus feet of Sri Ranganatha; I am born in such a noble lineage – with these strengths I dared to compose this sloka. I was nurtured by Sri Ranganaachiar and Sri Ranganatha at the temple itself. The Divya Dhamapathis took care of me right from my child hood (It is said that Battar will sleep in a cradle tied at the Periya perumal sannithi, moved by Sri Ranganayagi Herself). With this boldness, I started the verse which has made me a person who commited a great fault (fault = trying to praise Sri Ranganatha without possessing any qualification to do so).

Meaning – Even the Vedas claim that they have not found the depth of the “attribute-sea” of Periyaperumal. They know pretty well that they do not have the capacity to do so. Still they attempted thinking that, “We are at least better knowledgeable than those who are dull heads”. If it is possible for the Vedas to think like this, it possible for me too, to think in the same plane. Hence I qualified myself to praise Sri Ranganatha.

Meaning – There are two ways to praise anybody. One way is to borrow the attributes present in some other person, which are not present in the person who is being praised and with those borrowed attributes he is being praised. This method is not possible with respect to Periyaperumaal – since there is no attribute which could be borrowed from some others, which is not present in Him. Second way is to praise somebody with the actual attributes which he has. For this one has to know what are all the attributes the person has. This method is also not possible with respect to Periyaperumal – since even Vedas does not know (even He Himself does not know) His full attributes. Even then how Vedas extol Him? Just like a rain drop retaining its original name and form by falling on sea, Vedas retain their characteristics by praising Namperumal. If this be the case, I also will retain my swaroopa by doing so.

Explanation – When a rain drop falls on sea, it does not lose its characteristics of water. But when the same drop falls on mud, it loses its shape, color, taste etc. Similarly, if we praise Him, we will keep our swaroopa intact.

Meaning – When the departed soul moves to Paramapada through archiradi margam, it takes a holy dip at Vraja river on its way. For the people who are in this samsaric world, the Cauvery is like that Vraja river (where Srirangam is like Paramapada). She is embracing Srirangam with deep affection since Namperumal is there. Let that Cauvery remove my good-bad karma effects, which are hinderances to perform the kainkarya for Periyaperumal. Let her remove my ignorance, karma effects, vasana etc. She is overflowing the banks because of happiness. She is very pure. Let me take a holy dip in that overflowing Cauvery.